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The Port Report - June 2003
Port JUMPED out of its summer haze to celebrate the good things in life like eating, drinking & partying at CARNIVALE, which was held over the last week of May. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of this popular annual event added to the festivities, which were more numerous and varied this year. Most notable was the RODEO, which coincided with the Food & Wine extravaganza. This made for an interesting mix of dress styles in Macrossan St later in the evening – sort of R.M.Williams meets Port Douglas Cool. New and renamed restaurants are the go this season. Greco style ZEUS in Wharf St has kicked off in great style – cannot go wrong with Billy at the helm. TWO FISH next to the Courthouse is proving popular. Sassi has added SUSHI to his stylish establishment at the bottom of Macrossan St. Illios has transformed into TABLE 41; there has been a change of ownership at SARDI’S and long time Going Banana’s is now GONE BANANA’S. One could carry on but to close this scribe’s recommendations are HI TIDE and THE CURRY HOUSE. Coffee cups froze in mid air with the news that Bill had purchased property in Port – (that is Clinton by the way). Cocktails were spilt with the revelation that Mr & Mrs ( Gladiator) Crowe have allegedly made an astute real estate purchase… the Coliseum at Craiglie locally known as the Round House has been the whisper from those in the know. KEATING, KYLIE & TIGER are names to remember – BUT – this agency must state once again that we can neither CONFIRM nor DENY these real estate matters … discretion is our middle name! On more down to earth subjects:
Important as these issues are we must move onto matters closer to our hearts…. Supply and demand has caused the market to continue to favour the seller during the first half of 2003. This is certainly good news for those property owners who have been waiting for some time for this swing. All property types and all areas of the shire have experienced gains with the average increase in value being over 30% to the year-end 2002 over 2001. It is important to note that in reality this increase can vary greatly from property to property by 5% to 50%. This is a typical trend in Port Douglas where factors such as “track record” and “management performance” can be equally important as location and cost. In these circumstances, local knowledge is increasingly more important. Beachfront properties lead the way with the top price paid been $1.25M for a 736sqm lot in Four Mile earlier this year. Considerably higher prices have subsequently been offered to owners of residential lots in “old” Four Mile but owners have been disinclined to sell to date. The BEACHFRONT sub division at the old caravan park in Four Mile has sold well with reportedly only one remaining lot for sale. Prices range from around $500K to $1.6M for the premium spots. The Beachfront MIRAGE is well advanced with steady rather than spectacular sales. Sales activity for this agency has been particularly good for what has traditionally been the slower time of the year. FEBRUARY for example posted record values and one can see the trend towards a more consistent sales graph over the calendar year than has previously been the case. Changing holiday’s demographics, internet exposure and international events are the main reason for this shift. The second half of this year will continue to see strong real estate activity in Port barring unforeseen circumstances. The key factor will be the lack of listings in certain areas. For example, there is almost no apartment’s planned or available for sale UNDER $500K at this time. It is this reporter’s humble opinion that there is a great opportunity for a developer to take advantage of this shortage of stock. Both the land and the buyers are there.
This year has seen an unprecedented number of tenants re-signing their leases to stay on for what is promising to be a bumper season. Current events and the fact that we did not have a “Wet” season has meant that there has not really been an “off” season” in Port this year. That being said, the old boaties and farmers are already warning that there is a change on the wind. The point, in turn this has created a shortage in furnished rental properties available for the influx of hospitality workers who arrive in their droves at this time, “for the season”. Further exacerbated by the fact that the holiday apartments, quite rightly, needs to turn their units over to the higher nightly rates to capitalize on the season. This has had an adverse effect on the work force that finds itself with work but homeless, therefore having to move on. There will come a time as in other tourist areas that before being employed a permanent fixed abode has to be proven. Currently, there seems to be a huge gap for one bedroom “cheap and cheerful” units at an affordable price of say $150 to $175 per week to cater for this ever-increasing demand. Partying is fine for a short time, but once they get down to working long and hard, even the seasoned reveller just wants to retreat to a quiet home. Cape Tribulation and Daintree have both experienced a boom over Easter. Having woken up from our sleepy summer months and now bracing our selves for a bumper season over the next five months. One of the high lights of the “wet” was a visit by our local member of parliament in April. Which was an enlightening experience and well worth making the effort to attend? A couple of issues that were raised, but in brief.
During the conversation, that followed the question was voiced, “Why do we continue to live here?” Personally, the Daintree has great benefits:
If this could be your dream check out our site at www.daintreerealestate.com.au. Learn about the Daintree including Cape Tribulation and Cow Bay if you have questions go straight ahead ask them for you “I’m free”. Tracey G is the most pro-active real estate agent in the Daintree, driven by a passion that is evident, if you would like her in your team, contact her directly. Tropical Hello, from the holiday team. Well, the National school holidays are just around the corner – most villas, apartments & houses are already fully booked – restaurants are reporting great advance bookings for bumper crowds and all the reef & rainforest tours are pre booked to over flowing, so to speak. The long-range weather office reports superb blue skies from 30 June with perfect wind conditions expected at the Quicksilver pontoon of 1 knot. Already day-trippers have enjoyed being up close and personal with migrating Minke Whales and many schools of dolphins and things will only get better. With the International market slowly returning we have just started to receive e-mails from the US, UK, Eire and even a small group travelling from Iceland. The main base of business so far seems to be the domestic & New Zealand markets but as always a deal is the flavour. With the release of our new-look web site www.accomportdouglas.com our all important page ranking has shot up. Fortunately, not at the expense of www.accomportdouglas.com.au so we look forward to the return of the continental European market in August, we wait and see. The conference & incentive department has been very active in the first six months of this year a number of groups from a wide variety of places both national and from overseas. A key visit was the first official Ray White zone conference headed by Jim Doig during the Carnivale week. Everyone got more than they bargained for and we look forward to hosting many more mini conferences on behalf of the Group in the coming years. Whilst a large proportion of the population is experiencing chilly weather conditions, we are in the enviable position of enjoying brilliant sunshine, blue skies and stinger-free waters. Winter has finally arrived; we are reminded of the main reason why we live here and it would seem as if the secret is out. The problem appears to be a lack of suitable property to meet the demand, in terms of both sales and rentals. In anticipation of a securing a larger proportion of the market, we went through a recruiting drive in May and were surprised at the number of applicants, which is a great reflection on the direction that Port Douglas is going. As a result, the sales team has increased by two; Travis Schumacher joins us as a sales consultant and Alan Crossman now has a PA in Kim, a very competent administrator. Front of office is now the domain of Karen, probably most peoples first point of contact. Sheldon has joined Wayne dealing with the increase in email enquiries, in addition to carrying out some pre-arrival checks. Our forward planning is already paying dividends; we have already received positive feedback from our clients and customers. Well, as another financial year draws to a close no doubt we will all look back at 2002/3 as a positive exercise and hope that the present buoyant market continues.
Kind Regards,
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